Newbie thinking of joining the wood burning crowd, looking for advice

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burnt03

burnt03

Feeling the Heat
Oct 30, 2011
264
Peachland, BC, Canada
We bought our place a couple years ago in Peachland, BC, Canada (about 4 hours north of Spokane, Washington). It is about 2400 sqft and the upstairs living room has fairly high ceilings. Has a fireplace upstairs and used to have a woodstove downstairs (removed before we bought). Chimney is run up the outside wall, masonry with clay liner (I think?) After heating the last 2 winters with an electric forced air furnace, the bills are starting to hurt more and more.

Here's the family room in the basement:
scaled.php


Can see vents cut into the ceiling (left of stonework and in the right-side corner) that pass through to the upstairs. There is another similar vent cut through the floor in the laundry room (about 10 ft behind me where I took the picture) that leads into the upstairs bathrooms.

Here's the upstairs setup:
scaled.php


Vents are behind the TV and in the right-side corner.


I'm not really sure what I'm looking for, no experience with wood burners (other than getting firewood with my father in law for his place). Maybe just confirmation that this is what I should be looking at doing?

- What sort of stove (size, type) should I be looking for? Young family on a budget so hoping for something used, what kind of prices can I expect for a used stove that's EPA approved?
- I know it's tough to guess with only two pictures, but will a big stove in the basement work to heat the whole house with the vents cut and the stairway coming up
- Can anyone mention anything else important that I should be considering here?

Would sure appreciate any comments! Thanks in advance
 
Where does everybody spend the most time?
Nice place btw!
 
I'd start with the upstairs. Even if you spend a lot of time in the basement, the upstairs is where the majority of the house is. You will see thread after thread with people having issues with, and being disappointed with, their basement install because they had envisioned the heat working it's way up through the entire house.

Start with the upstairs and if you enjoy it, install a second stove in the basement.

As far as size goes, with 2,400 sq ft (minus the basement) I would go with at least a 2.5 cu ft firebox. Probably a 3 cu ft firebox would be better. A Pacific Energy T6 would most like work very well in the upstairs.
 
Thanks! It's our first house, saved for a long time and got lucky. Hopefully we'll be here for a long time!

The kids are still pretty young (2 and 4) so most of the time is spent in the living room upstairs. Kitchen is nearby there and their bedrooms are upstairs at the other end of the house (or directly behind me 15-20' in the picture)
 
Like Browning said then.
I would do a insert up stairs or put one on the hearth if there is room.
 
BBar, I think they are going to need an insert upstairs unless the plan is to remove the fireplace. There is only a T5 insert at this point. Or were you thinking of a standalone new installation?

burnt03, if you want an insert we'll need to know the fireplace's fire box dimensions. But, playing the devil's advocate here, how does the basement connect with the upstairs?
 
But, playing the devil’s advocate here, how does the basement connect with the upstairs?



Probably with steps.

lol..sorry could not help it...must be that Captain talking..lol.
 
BeGreen said:
BBar, I think they are going to need an insert upstairs unless the plan is to remove the fireplace. There is only a T5 insert at this point. Or were you thinking of a standalone new installation?

burnt03, if you want an insert we'll need to know the fireplace's fire box dimensions. But, playing the devil's advocate here, how does the basement connect with the upstairs?
Click to expand...


Yeah, I was thinking standalone. At first glance I thought the hearth was a lot bigger (I think the kiddie protection made it seem larger). It still looks like it could handle a free standing stove, but it will need a hearth extension for clearances.

In general, I lean towards free standing stoves whenever possible.
 
It's a split level. In the second picture, the stairs are to the right (down to the front door) and then double back to the left to go downstairs.

Oh yeah, and it's 2400 sqft total
 
If this is a split level, then a big stove in the basement section may work. It will be a bit warmer down there, but the heat has a large exit path. We have several folks heating their house this way. I'm leaning toward this option based on the current info. If you could post a sketch of the house's floorplan we can refine this.
 
Don't know if this'll actually work...

scaled.php


You guys can probably tell but I'm a graphic designer by trade. The sketch should be pretty much exactly to scale :)
 
If the basement staircase is open on the side to the family room, I think you can heat most of the place with a big stove in the basement. The bedroom areas will be cooler, but some folks like that. What would the budget be? Would you be able to get a few cords of good, dry wood at this time of year?
 
No, it's not open on the side downstairs. The entrance is about 4' across.

I'm not really sure on the budget since I don't really have any idea on stove prices. There was a Century for sale locally for $400, but I think it was only rated to 1700sq ft. If I need to, this project can wait til next year since I know I'm leaving it late for install, firewood gathering, etc. Plus, as you can tell, I'm not even sure what I should be looking for yet.

If I found a smoking deal though, there is a lot of standing dead fir I can fall at work and use.

Thanks for all the input!
 
We also have a Split Ranch.....Insert in the Living Room, directly across from the stairs leading to the bedrooms level ( 6 steps up)......Family room downstairs (6 steps down).....the insert has a blower....we easily heat the bedrooms (70* - 75*).....with the living room at 75*-80* (just the way the Wife likes it)....the family room at these temps will get up to 68*(downstairs) if we run the insert/blower all day. I feel that the split ranch design (at least ours), it at an advantage for a stove/insert. We like the insert with the blower combo because it moves the hot air.....dunno if they make a blower, or something to move the hot air around a free standing stove. Our home is 1,700 sq. ft. (3 bedroom, 2 bath) and including hot water....for a full calander year (last year), we burned 121 gallons of fuel oil here in the Northeast....can't complain....
 
burnt03 said:
There was a Century for sale locally for $400, but I think it was only rated to 1700sq ft.
Click to expand...

A word of wisdom when you are stove shopping. Do NOT pay attention to a couple of common specs (they are marketing gizmos). The first being sqft rating, the second being burn time and the third being BTU output. Basically everything that they tell you. :lol:

Go off of firebox size (assuming EPA Certified). You don't have any reason to be burning something less than 3 cuft. in that home. Just one dudes opinion.
 
BeGreen said:
If the basement staircase is open on the side to the family room, I think you can heat most of the place with a big stove in the basement. The bedroom areas will be cooler, but some folks like that. What would the budget be? Would you be able to get a few cords of good, dry wood at this time of year?
Click to expand...
My buddy has a Ranch with the fireplace downstairs, and sounds like what you describe....he knocked open the wall to the staircase leading upstairs....actually looked better since when you come in the front door, you can pretty much look down into the family room....now it actually feels like part of the house, not just a room downstairs. It did help a lot with getting heat upstairs....also installed a cieling fan in the entryway......still has a little issue getting heat into the bedrooms....he claims that there is a wall of cold air in the hallway that stops the warm air....trying to find a way to vent out the cold air....maybe a vent in the end of the hallway (floor), and duct work thru the garage, leading to the family room downstairs to help circulate the cold air to get warmed up.
 
Jags said:
burnt03 said:
There was a Century for sale locally for $400, but I think it was only rated to 1700sq ft.
Click to expand...

A word of wisdom when you are stove shopping. Do NOT pay attention to a couple of common specs (they are marketing gizmos). The first being sqft rating, the second being burn time and the third being BTU output. Basically everything that they tell you. :lol:

Go off of firebox size (assuming EPA Certified). You don't have any reason to be burning something less than 3 cuft. in that home. Just one dudes opinion.
Click to expand...

So, kind of leaning towards a free standing downstairs. If I had the insert upstairs, it'd work great to keep things warm there but I'd still have to run the furnace a fair bit to keep the basement heated.

One article in the article section (https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/choosing_a_wood_stove) states that you should go for a bigger stove (can always build a smaller fire in the stove). There's another article in the section (can't remember which one) that says the stove should be sized accurately (not too big) to prevent underfiring and too much creosote buildup. Can anyone confirm one way or another?
 
If you're going to try to heat two floors from the lower level with one stove, I would go for a big honkin' stove. You're going to really want to push out some heat to get upstairs to the bedrooms and your main living area. You'll probably want to keep it cooking full blast much of the time. I don't think you'll need to worry too much about underfiring.
 
Don't know if this will make any sense, but if a basement stove would have line of sight to the stairs, it might work well getting heat upstairs. It's when the heat has to travel around solids like walls that the heat doesn't move around as well. I'd go big honking stove downstairs in your case.
 
We installed a Woodstock in the basement a couple of years ago, it does a pretty good job of providing heat into the upper level and is not a huge stove. We also have a split level that is finished but have not vents other than the staircase to move heat. Whatever stove you choose you wont go wrong, no better way to heat, plus if the kiddee's are playing with the toys in the basement you want them warm :) Good Luck.
 
According to all we can read here, yes, one big stove in the basement should work out for you. There are lots of stoves available in the market that are over 3 cu.ft and offer high efficiencies, long burning times, great emissions and incredible value. What type of stove are you looking for ? Plate steel, cast, soap stone? Do you have an idea of the looks you want for it ?

There are some great hearth dealers in the Okanagan Valley area. I’m sure you will be able to find the perfect fit. Will be glad to help.
 
Does the material affect the operation or is it strictly looks?
 
There are lots of different opinions. Some people will only buy cast stoves others only soap stone’s and others will go with plate steel. Cast and soap stones stoves will be certainly more expensive. Plate steel on the other hand will be cheaper but under no circumstances less performing. Some plate steel stoves actually have even better warranties than cast or soap stone units!

On my opinion it is more a matter of looks than performance since you can find some amazing and great performing stoves on all materials.
 
burnt03 said:
Does the material affect the operation or is it strictly looks?
Click to expand...

Yes, plate steel is the black hole of stoves. It will suck the life out of you. It works perfectly well for snow plows, but cast is the way to go for stoves. :lol:
 
Hi Neighbour!... I live in Vernon... on the 'other end' of the OK Valley.

One of my neighbours has a situation somewhat similiar to yours. He has a mid '70's house with the typical "enter through the front door and either go down to the basement or up to the main floor" plan.

His wood stove is on an end wall with a masonary chimney. the stove is about 20' from the stairs going up to the main floor. The stove is in an enclosed room; so the heat has to go down a hallway to reach the stairs. He has a large rec room on the other end of the basement.

His total square footage would be very similiar to yours--approx. 2400 square feet.

They have no complaints about staying warm anywhere in the house..except that the kitchen (above the rec room) will be a little chilly on really cold days. Also, on cold days, they fire up the oil furnace for about 20 minutes first thing in the morning.

I believe that he has cut some vents into the floor at various places.

Anyone wondering which stove he has?...it's a Blaze King Princess. In theory, it should be too small for 2400 square feet; but the OK Valley seldom gets temps below about 10 degreees F.

I think the BKP is a great stove -- but certainly not a "pleasure to look at"!! BK now makes a new model called the Chinook, It has similiar performance features to the Princess; but IMHO it is much better looking! Could be the right stove for you -- but finding a used one will not be easy! Check Craigs List and Kijiji often!

Cheers!
 
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